ISLAMABAD: Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis have quit their coaching roles with Pakistan, a month before the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday that it had appointed former Test players Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq as interim coaches for the home limited-overs series against New Zealand that starts this month, and for the two T20s against England in October.
“Team management for the T20 World Cup will be appointed in due course,” the PCB said in a statement.
Head coach Misbah cited long periods spent in a bio-secure bubble during matches as the reason for stepping down.
Waqar, who is the bowling coach, said “it was a straightforward one for me to resign as we had walked into the roles together and had worked as a pair”.
Both were appointed in Sept. 2019 and still had a year each left on their contracts.
New Zealand will play three ODIs and five T20s in Pakistan while England will play two T20s.
Misbah stayed in the West Indies to complete quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus in Jamaica during the recent series of four T20s and two Tests.
“I understand the timing may not be ideal but I don’t think I am in the right frame of mind for the upcoming challenges and it makes sense for someone fresh to step in and take the side forward,” Misbah said.
“Considering that I would have had to continue to spend considerable time away from my family and that too in a bio-secure environment, I have decided to step down.”
Waqar echoed Misbah’s views.
“Bio-secure environments in the past 16 months have had their impact, something we had never experienced during our playing days,” Waqar said.
“I want to thank each and every member of the Pakistan set-up as we stayed united in good and bad days, and hope there will be brighter days ahead.”
